Tag Archives: Mohamed Sanu

In an emotional press conference to announce his intentions to declare for this April’s NFL Draft, Rutgers junior Mohamed Sanu offers his reasons for skipping his senior season, what his next step will be as a professional, and thanks the people who helped make him a record-breaking wide receiver.

Mohamed Sanu turned in one of the most productive offensive seasons in Rutgers football history this past fall. (MyCentralJersey.com file photo)

Mohamed Sanu is set to announce today whether he will return for his senior season or become an early-entry in this April’s NFL Draft. Rutgers’ junior wideout, who will announce his decision during a noon press conference at the Hale Center, has kept mum on his future intentions since the summer, when various websites began listing the 6-2, 215-pounder as a potential first-round pick.

Following the Scarlet Knights’ 27-13 victory over Iowa State in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl last Friday, Sanu said he had yet to decide but hinted that the fans’ chants of “one more year” could influence his choice.

“That meant a lot,” the South Brunswick High School product said. “I love our fans, I love playing for them, and I’m listening to some of the things they had to say.”

Sanu set both the Big East and Rutgers single-season record for receptions this past year, finishing with 115 catches for 1,206 yards and seven touchdowns. In addition to being named to the All-Big East first-team and earning the Maxwell Club’s Tri-State Player of the Year Award, Sanu collected the Homer Hazel Trophy — given to the Most Valuable Player on the Rutgers football team — last month.

Mohamed Sanu, who is building a strong case for Big East Offensive Player of the Year honors, today collected his second conference player of the week award after his record-smashing performance in Saturday’s 27-12 win over Army.

The junior wideout broke both Rutgers’ and the Big East’s record for single-season receptions after hauling in 13 catches in a victory that guaranteed the Scarlet Knights (7-3) a winning record this fall.

“It just shows hard work pays off,” said Sanu, who eclipsed Larry Fitzgerald’s Big East single-season record of 92 receptions set in 2003 and surpassed Kenny Britt’s Rutgers record year of 87 receptions set in ’08.

Sanu, who will seek his seventh 100-yard game Saturday when the Scarlet Knights play host to Cincinnati in a battle for Big East supremacy, has 94 receptions for 973 yards through 10 games.

Here is my story on the number of spectacular catches turned in this season by Mohamed Sanu, who, with 81 grabs through Rutgers’ 6-3 start, needs only seven more catches to surpass Kenny Britt for the single-season receptions program record and 12 more catches to eclipse Larry Fitzgerald’s Big East mark. Sanu catching everything thrown his way

With 65 catches through seven games, Mohamed Sanu is on pace to enter the Rutgers and Big East record books for single-season receptions. Sanu's 65 catches already have him tied for fourth in Rutgers' single-season history, and he's on pace for 111 receptions, which would surpass Kenny Britt (87 rec., '08) and Larry Fitzgerald (92 rec., 92 rec., '03) atop the Rutgers and Big East record books, respectively. (Photo by US PRESSWIRE)

Mohamed Sanu was one of four players added to the Biletnikoff Award watch list today, an award presented annually to the nation’s best college football wide receiver. Rutgers’ junior is among 104 receivers on the watch list, including teammate Mark Harrison.

With 683 receiving yards through Rutgers’ 5-2 start, Sanu is tied for 18th nationally in receiving yards. The 6-2, 215-pounder from South Brunswick also ranks fourth nationally with 65 receptions, and his six receiving touchdowns place him in a tie with West Virginia’s Stedman Bailey atop the Big East.

The watch list will be trimmed to 10 semifinalists on Nov. 14, then down to three finalists on Nov. 21. The winner will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards airing on ESPN, Dec. 8, at 9 p.m.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The last time Mohamed Sanu played here at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, the then-freshman enjoyed a career-best performance.

Working out of the wildcat formation, Sanu ran for 148 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-point victory. For Sanu, it feels like lightyears since that Nov. 27, 2009, afternoon since the days of executing the run-gun formation are long gone.

“I remember it was my best wildcat game,” Sanu said. “I remember we executed on the little details very well.”

When Rutgers meets Louisville tonight in a nationally-televised affair at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Sanu won’t be asked to run the wildcat. The junior will focus primarily on his pass-catching duties, and the Scarlet Knights are a better team for the emergence of the star junior from South Brunswick.

With 55 catches midway through the season, Sanu enters action on pace to to record 110 receptions for the regular season. Not only would that total smash Rutgers and Big East records for single-season receptions, it would exceed the lofty goal the 6-2, 215-pound Sanu set for himself before the season.

Mohamed Sanu is eighth in Rutgers history with 140 career receptions, and will move into a tie for fifth in school history with his next 100-yard receiving game with six. (MyCentralJersey.com file photo)

The Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation on Tuesday amended its watch list for the Biletnikoff Award, and Mohamed Sanu — despite leading the Big East and ranking third nationally with 9 receptions per game — remains absent from the list. While six receivers were added to the watch list, Rutgers’ star junior apparently remains a longshot for the award presented annually to the nation’s top college receiver.

Sanu turned in one of the most prolific receiving performances of the college football season 17 days ago, setting a Big East record with 16 receptions for 176 yards and two touchdowns in the Scarlet Knights’ 38-26 triumph over Ohio. The 16 catches were the second-most by a player in a game nationally this season, trailing only USC’s Robert Woods, who caught 17 passes for 117 yards in a Sept. 3 win over Minnesota.

The watch list currently consists of 101 players, including Rutgers junior wideout Mark Harrison. Voting is done electronically, meaning Sanu’s name would need to be put on the watch list or else rely on write-in votes to be chosen for the list of 10 semifinalists on Nov. 14. Biletnikoff voters will trim the list down to three on Nov. 21 before selecting the winner on Dec. 1. The recipient of the Biletnikoff Award will be announced Dec. 8.

With 45 catches for 455 yards and five touchdowns through five games, Sanu already has surpassed his receiving production (44 rec., 418 yds., 2 TDs) from a sophomore campaign in which he was plagued by injuries and was forced to split time as the WildKnight quarterback.

After hauling in 29 catches the past two weeks, including a Big East-record 16-catch performance last weekend against Ohio, it stands to reason that Mohamed Sanu will be the focus of Syracuse’s defensive gameplan Saturday when the Orange play host Rutgers for a noon kickoff inside the Carrier Dome.

“He’s an excellent player, and they have other players, too,” Syracuse coach Doug Marrone said. “I’ve watched them on film. They’ve made some acrobatic catches … and we all know that (offensive coordinator) coach (Frank) Cignetti is there now from Pittsburgh. I have the upmost respect for him, and we haven’t fared well against coach Cignetti when he was at Pittsburgh. It’s a great challenge for our defense.”

Following Thursday’s practice, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano downplayed the idea that Cignetti will need to adjust its gameplan to the extra attention Sanu will get, saying he was sure that “Ohio saw the game before” when the star junior hauled in 13 catches at North Carolina. Of course, all of Ohio’s defensive wrinkles couldn’t prevent Sanu from registering 176 yards and two touchdowns (both career-highs) in the 38-26 win.

“I just think (Sanu) is a good player,” Schiano said. “We’re not going to leave the routes the same. … But I hope the ball gets distributed more evenly.”

To that end, Schiano said getting receivers such as Mark Harrison and Brandon Coleman more involved is “critical.”

“I know I speak for our whole staff, we’re leaving offense on the field,” Schiano said. “Some of (the reasons) are drops, some aren’t thrown exactly right, routes aren’t run correctly. But we’d like to increase production — not decrease Mo’s — just get more from the other guys.”

GAME 4 CAPTAINS: Schiano, whose team practiced in the bubble this morning, named his captains for the Syracuse game, awarding Sanu, senior safety Patrick Kivlehan, senior offensive lineman Devon Watkis and fourth-year junior defensive tackle Scott Vallone with the honor.

Not only is Mohamed Sanu a star on the field, he's a leader off the gridiron as well. (MyCentralJersey.com file photo)

You’ve read on this blog and other news outlets all about Mohamed Sanu’s exploits on the field, but not many know how active Rutgers’ star wideout has been off the field as well. As my newspaper story depicts, Sanu makes it a point to give back to the Central Jersey community, speaking to kids at various schools, Pop Warner fields, hospitals and at the Special Olympics due, in part, to his rough upbringing.

But if you want to know more about Sanu, read what his current and former coaches think of his character.

Says Rutgers coach Greg Schiano:

“Mo brings a lot of great attributes, great leadership qualities to our team. He works very hard on the field. He’s a very responsible guy and a very charitable guy off the field. Just a nice person who I think does things for others with no expectations in return. There’s not a lot of people out there like that.”

Or, how South Brunswick coach Rick Mantz put it:

“He’s just an incredible young man. He’s a role model. Last year, for example, when Greg gave the kids a couple days off before they started the first week of (game) preparation, he told them to go home and relax. The first thing Mohamed does is he drives to Immaculata High School to watch us scrimmage. He shows up on the sideline. I’m like, ‘What are you doing here? Didn’t coach tell you to relax?’ And he said, ‘I am relaxing. I’m just watching you.’ So he was out there, pumping up guys, patting guys on the back. He was coaching kids during the warmup. All the kids at South Brunswick, they’re all like his little brother. He’s even said a couple of times how appreciative he is because of the people in this community, the other parents, the coaches, the people who helped him. He gives back every chance he gets. Football camp, he was here. He was working out with (the Rutgers) team, going to night school, but as soon as he had a free moment he was here talking with the kids, signing autographs. He goes to the Pop Warner fields here in town any chance he gets. He really is amazing.

“He is the happiest kid I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s funny because he really comes from humble beginnings. His mom’s been in Africa most of the time, his dad’s not here, and he and his sister and his brother-in-law, they don’t have a lot of money. But you would think he had a million dollars. He is just so happy and appreciative. You take him out to lunch and spend time with him, it’s always, ‘Coach, I’m doing great. I’m excited. The kids are great.’ I’ve never seen him in a bad mood.

“A lot of kids when they get to that big-time level, they start strutting or they get full of themselves. He’s the exact same way he was when I met him here as a 16 year old, as a sophomore in high school. He’s just down to earth. And it pumps him up. It gets him excited. He saw a kid make a play in a scrimmage last year — he came out to practice during the summer — he sees a kid make a play and he’s out there chest-bumping everybody. He’s more excited than they are. He’s something else.”

A day after Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said Jawan Jamison — a redshirt freshman who was hoping to get into the mix in the tailback competition — would be sidelined for “a little bit” with a hamstring injury, Jamison said his goal is to be back right after the Scarlet Knights’ first scrimmage next Saturday.

“Right now they say probably just a week,” Jamison said. “But I’m rehabbing today, riding the bike for a couple minutes and stretching it out in the hot tub so we’ll see how it goes.”

The 5-8, 190-pounder from Starke, Fla., is competing with sophomore Jeremy Deering, freshmen Savon Huggins and Ben Martin, and junior De’Antwan Williams for the role of featured running back in Rutgers’ offense this summer.

“As far as a setback, I’d say it is because I haven’t been able to run,” said Jamison, who vaulted himself up the depth chart with a strong spring camp. “I have to get back in shape, and then I’ll have to climb back up the depth chart.

“There’s no doubt I’m going to battle back. That’s what I came here to do, to compete, and that’s what I look forward to when I get back out there. I can’t wait to get back out there actually, because I love to compete.”

Head coach Steve Pikiell came up big in landing the playmaking floor general Monday was a hugely important day for the Rutgers men’s basketball program, as point guard of the future, Paul Mulcahy, signed his national letter of intent, making him officially a Scarlet Knight. Mulcahy is rated a 3-star and 4-star prospect, depending on […]